School Issues Vie
For Attention of Congress

It didn't take long for education to capture center stage when
federal lawmakers returned last week from their August recess.

The Senate almost immediately took up a spending bill covering the
Department of Education—with Democrats and a few Republicans
seeking more money for schools—and the House last Friday was
expected to debate a hotly contested measure that would create a pilot
school voucher program for the District of Columbia.

Beyond those items, the Republican-controlled Congress has much
unfinished business to attend to on education and related matters, from
bills on special education and higher education to Head Start and
welfare reform. Lobbyists predict that a hearty chunk of that agenda
will carry over into next year.

Certainly, many of the education issues are complex, and their
politics can be sharply divisive, making for slow going. On top of
that, there is much competition for lawmakers' time and attention,
especially between now and when Congress adjourns later this year.

"[The agenda] is exceedingly crowded," said Thomas E. Mann, a
political analyst at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think
tank.

Congress still must complete work on a long series of spending
bills, he said, plus "a couple of high-priority items for the [Bush]
administration, including energy and prescription drugs, which face
daunting obstacles."

"It's just a very, very difficult time," Mr. Mann said.

Beyond the education budget, the top priority for leading education
policymakers in both parties is completing the reauthorization of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The House passed a
Republican- crafted bill earlier this year, and the Senate was expected
to bring its own, bipartisan plan to the floor in the coming weeks.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts,
the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Committee, predicted that the Senate would "absolutely" pass a
special education reauthorization this year.

As is usually the case, the House—with governing rules that
make it much easier, and quicker, to pass legislation—has made
far more headway than the Senate on education measures this year. In
addition to the IDEA bill, the House has passed bills to reauthorize
the Head Start program and the federal welfare law, as well as pieces
of the Higher Education Act.

Following are status reports on major items on the congressional
agenda:

Department of Education Budget

The Senate began debate last week on the spending bill that includes
funding for the Department of Education. Several amendments aimed at
expanding the agency's purse were rejected last week, but others were
pending. As passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill
contained $54.6 billion in discretionary spending for the Education
Department, which is almost $800 million less than the House approved
in July. Debate was likely to continue well into this week. Both the
House and Senate bills exceeded President Bush's request to freeze the
department's budget at $53.1 billion in fiscal 2004, which begins Oct.
1.

Both bills met or exceeded Mr. Bush's request to ratchet up spending
on two of his top budgetary priorities: special education and the Title
I program for disadvantaged students. However, neither chamber seemed
to have much appetite for the president's effort to eliminate a host of
Education Department programs he deems a low priority. Most of the
programs in the Bush administration's crosshairs will likely survive
the budget debate.

District of Columbia Vouchers

Efforts to enact a pilot voucher program for the District of
Columbia appeared to be gaining momentum last week. On Thursday, the
Senate Appropriations Committee, by a vote of 16 to 12, passed such a
measure as part of a spending bill for the District of Columbia. And
the House was scheduled last Friday to vote on a similar voucher plan
as part of its appropriations bill for the city.

The House measure would provide $10 million in fiscal 2004, and the
Senate plan $13 million, to help children from low-income families
attend private or religious schools in Washington. Priority for the
vouchers, worth up to $7,500 each, would be given to children currently
in low-performing public schools. ("Senate Panel Approves D.C. Voucher
Measure," this issue.)

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act

The nation's main special education law is expected to make its way
to the Senate floor this month or next for reauthorization.

The Senate version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act—the current name of the landmark 1975 law that guarantees the
nation's now-6.5 million students with disabilities a free, appropriate
public education—omits two contentious elements from the House
bill. Leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions introduced their version of the bill June 12.

Missing from the bipartisan Senate version is a measure that would
put the burden on parents to prove, in discipline cases, that their
children's disabilities caused them to break school rules. It also
leaves out an extension, with parents' approval, of the interval
between the writing of students' individualized education plans from
one year to three. Both provisions, which are included in the House
version that passed April 30, have come under fire from advocates for
special education.

Other controversial topics expected in the Senate include voucher
programs for special education and so-called full federal funding of
the law.

—Lisa Goldstein

Higher Education Act

Republicans are vowing to bring the K-12 mantra of "accountability"
to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by putting more
pressure on colleges and universities to control their rapidly rising
prices and to make higher education more accessible.

Several bills are likely to emerge from the House during its
reauthorization hearings over the next few months, but is uncertain
when the Senate will act.

The House in July approved the proposed Ready to Teach Act, which
would place tougher requirements on teachers' colleges for turning out
qualified instructors. Also in July, the House passed a proposal that
would increase the amount of federal student-loan forgiveness for
teachers in certain Title I schools. Both bills await Senate
action.

Earlier this year, a top GOP lawmaker on higher education issues,
Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R- Calif., said he would introduce a
measure that would require postsecondary institutions that impose steep
tuition hikes to justify those price increases to the federal
government.

—Sean Cavanagh

Head Start

In late July, a Republican-sponsored bill that would allow eight
states more control over federal Head Start money narrowly passed the
House.

Supporters of the proposal, called the School Readiness Act of 2003,
say the plan would allow states to blend their own preschool programs
with Head Start dollars for poor children, and, therefore, better serve
children's needs. The bill would also place greater emphasis on early
academic learning for preschoolers in the program.

Democrats and Head Start advocates argue that such a "block grant"
approach would weaken the popular 38-year-old program, which now serves
more than 900,000 children with educational, health, and social
services.

Senate Democrats have introduced their own plan, which would aim to
strengthen academics and increase credentials and wages for Head Start
teachers.

—Linda Jacobson

Welfare

The reauthorization of the 1996 federal law overhauling the welfare
system is now more than a year behind schedule. While the House has
passed a welfare bill that closely resembles President Bush's plan, the
issue has been stalled in the Senate.

The House bill, approved in February, would increase mandatory work
requirements for welfare recipients from 30 to 40 hours per week and
would increase funding for child- care subsidies by $1 billion over
five years. The Child Care and Development Block Grant remains at its
fiscal 2002 level of $4.8 billion because of temporary extentions
passed by Congress.

Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate have argued that more
child-care spending is needed in order for single mothers to meet
increasing work requirements, and they have pushed for as much as an
$11 billion increase over five years.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.